D. J. Waldie

Essayist D.J. Waldie explores the legacy of the fire element on the landscape of Los Angeles.

Essayist D.J. Waldie digs into the story of the land beneath Los Angeles — earthworms, human remains, liquid gold and all.

Essayist D.J. Waldie unfurls the complexities of water in Los Angeles, from trickles to torrents.

Essayist D.J. Waldie explores the beguiling and often contradictory qualities of air in Los Angeles.

The benign climate of Los Angeles, the excellent highways, the desire to escape into an alternate reality and the skills of Hollywood designers were material causes of our architecture of fakery, informing how donuts, ice cream and pianos were sold.

The optimistic essence of the California's golden dream endures — as it should — but the future of the state depends on Californians dreaming differently.

In the 1850s-70s, an elaborately themed garden surrounded the town's most eccentric building, the Round House.

L.A. once sold its climate as "semi-tropical" – a term that emphasized the uniqueness of its nature. Semi-tropical was semi-miraculous.

L.A. for a generation was extraordinarily violent, even more violent than frontier towns more famous in Western lore.

The Pacific Southwest Exposition embodied the spirit of 1920s Hollywood: spectacle for its own sake, cheerful vulgarity, and commercial hard sell.